Showcase: Scouse Dave

Scouse Dave: 'Skarr'

David started his build in July 2007. It has gone through various stages with many parts being improved and rebuilt. Indeed, the tinkering is still ongoing, at the time of writing - a good example of how Dalek building can become addictive!

One of David's missions is to try and reduce the weight, especially that of the shoulder section. He admits, "I think I used far too much filler, almost give myself a hernia when I lift it off the skirt".

More honing and adjustments are planned. Light weight fibreglass slats are currently in progress..

How it was done...

The fender was built up from 12mm ply. The Project Dalek plans were used and everything worked out pretty well. The frame is made up and stuck together with screws, nails and lots of grip fill adhesive. Fibreglass matting was used on the underside, to reinforce the whole thing. It took about two weeks to construct.

David was lucky enough to come across a mobility scooter shop in Loughborough that stocked second hand scooters. A deal struck, the cost: £100 for a machine that was only six moths old and little used. It was stripped down, chopped up and re welded to fit in the fender, complete with extra support cross members.

The neck was constructed without using the traditional neck-bin method. The upper part of the neck, that supports the dome was attached directly to the top of the neck cage. Slots for the rotation wheels were cut into the surface using a router. The whole job took about 7 hours.

The eye was constructed using a piece of copper pipe, half a toy capsule, rings made from plastic sheet and a ring of 12mm MDF used as the back of the iris, where it slots into the main body of the eye. The D shaped details are made from 6mm dowel split in half and sanded down to make them nearer to 4mm, as per the plans.

The dome mold was prepared for casting by adding car body trim from Halfords, to make up the grooves (in negative). Once the dome was laid up in the mould and fully cured, it took a great deal of levering and wedging to release it. The photo shows the final result, with the trim still in situ.

A split mold was made for the cowl. David used scrap plastic card to create the split, held in place with modeling clay. The gel coat was tinted with a tiny bit of green pigment to create a contrast with the white gel coat used for the final casting.